Tony Hinchcliffe is a Youngstown, Ohio born comedian and host of the Kill Tony podcast. He made waves at a Trump rally in 2024, where he jokingly referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
Hinchcliffe styles himself as a “man of the people.” It was Hinchcliffe himself who announced from backstage, “The show will start in five minutes.” I can think of nothing more Northeast Ohio than to DIY your own backstage announcement.
Tony is wiry, funny looking, and worked so hard to get out of Youngstown, all the way to Los Angeles before finding his current home at The Comedy Mothership Joe Rogan created in Austin, Texas. My first introduction to him was the Tom Brady roast on Netflix. Nothing was off limits then, or now.
Tony’s style has been called “roast comedy,” but there is much more depth to his act. For a peek inside his dark, twisted soul, Julia (my 17 year old daughter) and I made our way from Boynton Beach to The Broward Center’s Au Rene Theater, a 2700 seat venue. Much more cost effective than visiting his live podcast in Austin, Texas.
We were in the upper balconies, “the well-behaved poors” I think he called us.
His opener David Lucas, who I usually like on Kill Tony and on his own podcast, fell flat with mostly sexually graphic material. It failed to land with Tony’s more conservative fan base (including this embarrassed dad).
However, Timmy No Brakes (Tim Stiefler) was a pleasant surprise to the lineup of three total comics for the night. He came into the KIll Tony universe earlier this year with a character that seems one part Andrew Dice Clay, and one part Andrew Dice Clay imitating Andrew Dice Clay. “Timmy” did some amazingly entertaining crowd work, demonstrating his depth as a comedian, improviser, and writer.
What makes Tony so lovable is the contrast of his vitriol rolled up into a sweet, harmless, wiry looking little package. It’s like the gentle giant trope, in reverse. For the record: I’ve known some not-so-gentle giants. Yes, Tony is an abrasive little fellow. But there’s a deep love and vulnerability that underlies all of his surface revulsion at various groups of people, his own people included (Italian Americans).
One thing I always appreciated about Howard Stern was that he introduced a wider audience to folks that many of us rarely interact with: drug addicts, mentally disabled people, little people, etc. Though Stern made jokes about and with these people, he gave them a visibility and a voice that others didn’t.
Tony does this effortlessly on Kill Tony and in his standup.
“I look at different races and cultures, that’s exactly what makes America special. The fact that we could all get together and come together and laugh.”
On his YouTube / Netflix show, Kill Tony, Hinchcliffe has given his enormously influential spotlight to comedians of every color, disability (mental and physical), and gender.
Early into his act, Tony said, “It’s crazy times people, we’re gonna talk all about it.” The “it” on my mind was Charlie Kirk, whose assassination just days earlier was dominating the national conversation.
He described the gun he bought after moving to Texas: “It’s like having a second d*ck. The first thing I did when I got it home was I put it in my mouth.” Depending on our perspective, he said, we could take this as a gay joke or a suicide joke. “I’m here to tell y’all once and for all I ain’t gay.” I pray he’s not really suicidal. The world needs Tony. He even looks like a little court jester.
Regarding Amy Schumer: “It was cool to see Brandon Fraser win an Oscar.”
In a move I’ve never seen before, Tony put the microphone on top of his bar stool, and scraped it across the stage. It sounded like a deep-sea audio recording. “That’s Amy Schumer communicating with her family,” he announced to hearty laughter after an extremely innovative stunt.
“I love all the different cultures,” Tony said. “I love it all. Where’s my proud Latinos at tonight? It was louder 8 months ago.”
On Donald Trump’s signature: “It looks like Lizzo’s heart rate.”
Berating the crowd, Tony said: “I guess you guys are getting an extra long show thanks to the absolute unbelievably low IQ of this audience.” We laugh because it’s funny. We laugh at ourselves, and this laughter, on this night, is much needed.
On Charlie Kirk: “Among the best people I’ve ever met. A good friend. I partied with him in the inauguration. We had a good old time. He was just nothing but nice. A lot of these people at that time were shying away. I didn’t know whether they could hang out with me or whatever, he was the total opposite, absolutely nothing but welcoming. And hung out with me and Kid Rock. We had the best time.”
On Charlie Kirk’s assassin: “Can you imagine the shock of that father when he realized that his son was banging a trans person? Not even the scariest thing he ever shot into, you know what I mean?”
On Canadians: “They were cute back in the day, right? They were our little retarded cousin.”
“Football’s back – so great, so many great athletes. I don’t know about you guys but I think that Travis Kelce might be the next OJ Simpson.”
Tony closed saying it was “an unbelievable fucking time – we always have fun here in Florida.”
I will tune into the Netflix special, if only to see how it evolved from the live show. Tony Hinchcliffe’s irreverence is needed, now more than ever.
